CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: 12/08/12

WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

Saturday, December 08, 2012

LARS THOMAS: The Continuing story of the Danish wolf

http://cryptodane.blogspot.com/2012/12/it-was-wolf.html

CARL MARSHALL: A fine example of convergent evolution

This is Pseudoproscopia latirostris also commonly known as a stick grasshopper or more specifically a horsehead grasshopper.

There are more than 130 species of stick grasshopper which belong to the taxonomic family Proscopiidae.

At first glance these grasshoppers look very much like stick insects (Phasmatodea) however their large orthopterian hind legs enable them to jump, albeit not particularly far.

Much like stick insects, stick grasshoppers spend most of their time swaying side-to-side on leaves in an attempt to mimic twigs and sticks moving in the wind, thus avoiding predators.

This species in particular has become popular among enthusiasts as it is easy to breed and feeds readily on bramble, much like many phasmid species.

We have bred these bizarre little hoppers many times and even though this is not all that difficult I personally think they're fantastic and a fine example of parallel evolution, and for anybody passionate about hoppers or phasmids they are a must have for any collection.

I ORIGINALLY ASKED "CAN ANYONE PROVENANCE THIS FOR ME?"

But yesterday I heard from Andrew May who wrote: "Sorry, I was being nosy and had a peek at a blog post you have in draft called "Can anyone provenance this for me?" (I can look at previews of your stuff on Blogger because I'm a contributor to the blog). It's fairly easy these days to find the source of an image. If you go to Google Image search, the search box has a little camera icon. If you click on this, you can paste in an image URL (in this case, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkld8aU8_PqKF4oNbIvBjqNpAY-x4iQcX2pAkEiyu8TSNckVEyJcArD_7pgNCqDr5fKrsG1SVmkODu0cE1wJR8YxvO6rV1-7tZyFZyKo2C7wv5vh68SVEE7eFNCZhyphenhyphen5qDAWEyvw/s1600/odd+creature.jpg ). It immediately comes up saying "Best guess for this image: compendium rarissimum totius artis magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos artis hujus magistros". Isn't technology wonderful?

It certainly is. This is an image of Beelzebub from Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros published in 1775. Thank you Andrew

DALE DRINNON: Chupacabras, bigfoot, Cedar and Willow, Benny's Blogs

New at the Frontiers of Zoology:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/12/chupacabras-drawing-from-facebook.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/12/bigfootor-another-unknown-humanoid.html

And a special announcement from Benny on the Thelma Todd Blog:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/pearl-harbor.html

Latest on Cedar And Willow: I would have thought I would have this part include her marriage to King Ycranos but it looks like shall need a fourth part. This does cover Perry Rhodan (Possibly), Battletech and Star Trek, as well as her presumed final death while she was Captain of the Enterprise:

http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-perils-of-peri-brown-part-3.html

New on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-ancient-africans-were-first-nerds.html

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that - whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot, or lake monsters - it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean Zoologist to be interested in. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

And so here we are at another weekend. Time seems to go so fast when you are older; perhaps that is why I still haven't got around to having a haircut for over ten years now. Christmas is looming up over the horizon, and I - for one - will be terribly glad when it is over. Hopefully I will spend the afternoon editing some of the footage or Auburn and Jefferson Starship from Southampton back in October, and Prudence may even take mother and me out for a walk.

Issue three of the Gonzo Weekly newsletter goes out later today and features: JON ANDERSON, YES, FRANK ZAPPA, PAUL BUFF, HAWKWIND, JEFFERSON STARSHIP, DAVE BRUBECK, HUW LLOYD LANGTON, ED CASSIDY, SPIRIT, AUBURN
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/gonzo-newsletter-3-goes-out-later-today.html

Some news on the forthcoming single by Asia featuring John Payne
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/single-news-from-asia-featuring-john.html

A little film for you about me, Graham, computer worries, Auburn and Jefferson Starship. Features never before seen JS footage
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-cautionary-tale-featuring-cfz.html

Our daily visit to Thom the World Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_8.html

Rob Ayling pays tribute to Huw Lloyd Langton
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/those-we-have-lost-rob-ayling-remembers.html

Graham Inglis remembers Huw Lloyd Langton
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/those-we-have-lost-graham-inglis-on-huw.html

* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginitavely - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link:http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?